friend(s)
by surelysilly
Summary: Making friends, and keeping them.
1. chapter 1

so I changed it a bit, and unfortunately FF's formatting doesn't allow for me to start off as cool as I can on AO3.

I also have no idea where I'm going with this. Ideas and stuff are welcome, or if anyone wants to work something out with me.

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><p>.<p>

Benny almost loses his head to the thing, the bite of steel cutting a line from the curve of his ear to his collar as he twists away with a snarl. Blood coats the shoulder of his jacket, and he swings his blade in a wide arch, working to put some distance between them. A few leaves flutter to the ground, and the vampire figures he's just learned a valuable lesson.

The thing's scrawny, beaten an ugly dark colour all over with who knows what. Benny curls his lip at the scent that rafts over to him, eyeing the matted hair and slivers of blue behind it for what it may do next. It is an unknown. No distinguishing features visible; pale skin doesn't make a vampire, and a challenging hiss reveals human blunt teeth. Decapitation tends to always work out in the end.

Eyeing the close range blade in its hand, Benny doesn't want to doubt his strength but he does. The physically strong and quick want to get in close, not something he really wants to chance; whatever they are, tackling a vampire is short of suicide if you aren't one, or something higher on the food chain, so what gives them the confidence of attacking worries him. Taking a step back, he doesn't realize his six o'clock is unguarded. There's a crack, and raw heat sears into his back.

Benny howls with anger and pain, whipping around, weapon raised.

Fuck, there are **two.**

This is a fight he definitely doesn't want to try and win.

Jerking to the side, he grabs the wrist and arm to the hand that cuts a line into his jacket and bodily tosses the lunging monster into its twin. Wary, he shuffles back, keeping the two in his sight as they roll in a tangle of gangly limbs and back onto their feet, picking themselves up with a disturbing grace.

"C'mon, ya piss ants," he growls.

They advance on Benny, curling into the arches of a circle to corner him on both sides. And, this is just fucking great. The vampire darts his eyes between the two, and snarls at them in warning. He's cornered prey. And they're a team. Twin monsters, working in a pair to take down possibly stronger targets or that's just how they work. He's grasping at straws, unsure how to survive the encounter, when they freeze.

Both of their heads snap to the trees on their left, searching, and then they're drawing back with a loud hiss of," Leviathans." The hairs on the back of Benny's neck prickle, and a loud howl rips through the silence, shattering the stilted muteness of Purgatory. And, then they're gone as quick as they came. It's disorientating and nauseating as everything seems to tilt and ripple for barely a second, but it's enough to jelly his legs, and send pain searing up his knees as he lands on rocks.

It takes a moment, but Benny scrambles up from the ground, bile burning just at the back of his throat, and throws his eyes about. The vampire gives the area one wary glance over, eyes glancing to the trees above his head, before hightailing it.

Fuck if he was gonna stick around.


	2. Chapter 2

**sapphireswimming: **Yeah! this is the one =w=

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><p>.<p>

The next time Benny sees either of the two again, it's the one with green eyes and it's pilfering through the dead bodies of a dozen or so monsters.

He watches off to the side, hidden behind a tangle of trees. The kid moves between the bodies, poking around in their pockets, and appraising their weapons, and that's when it hits him. All they had wanted was his blade; the green eyed one had been weaponless, save for whatever it had thrown into his back. He twitches at the thought of the searing heat and the burns that had lingered for days. It's not that he'd have given it to them, gotta be able to defend himself and all, but he can concede the point that he has a very nice and durable makeshift weap—

Cold steel pricks into his neck, the tip freezer degrees, and Benny stiffens. A mistake, he'd made a mistake. If they could sense Leviathans before he even could hear their monstrous roars then the two could definitely sense him barely even twenty feet away. He swallows, and the sharp edge nicks the skin of his neck, drawing a small bead of blood along the faint scar that mares it.

"I'll give you my weapon free of charge," he tries, eyes darting to the still figure of the other of the two. Radioactive green stares into his brown. "Cross my heart and hope to die."

The weapon falters, as if confused at the ease of which he'd give up his weapon, and Benny swings it back. The blade definitely sinks into something, that he's sure, but when the smaller blade tumbles from his shoulder and he tips back from the sudden release of his weapon, Benny swears.

He dodges a thrown axe-like weapon, rolling from the minimal cover of the trees, and scrambles upright and ready.

Only, they're gone and he's left standing at the edge of a clearing full of bodies.


	3. Chapter 3

_boo_

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><p>.<p>

For all of the few times Benny has encountered the two, or whatever, he figures they survive on being sneaky and guerrilla style tactics. Ambushing being their main thing. So, he gives the thought that maybe they wouldn't do so well caught barefooted and in close quarters when unprepared.

It's just his luck that he stumbles upon them fighting tooth and nail under such conditions.

He skulks in the background for what seems an eternity when the green-eyed one is struck down, shielding the blue-eyed one, and explodes close range into green plasm. The monster caught in the small explosion screams, clawing at its melting face, and falls to the ground convulsing in pain.

Grimacing, Benny counts his lucky stars that that hadn't happened to him in their last encounter.

More monsters appear from across the clearing, and Benny jumps into the fight before he really knows what he's doing. Three are already down, which leaves five more, and surprise helps him decapitate one and take another out at the knees. It's messy, and all kinds of flesh and matter splatter them in the frenzy. They bump and stumble into each, the adrenaline tunneling Benny's mind: survive, kill, survive.

He downs the last one with a triumphant snarl, and is turning, a smirk slipping onto his lips and his weapon poised to settle on his shoulder, when a furious green orb knocks his weapon from his hand, and he's bowled over. They both roll in a flurry of punches and ragged nails, growls and snarls, before Benny is pinned, the thing sitting on his chest with another radioactive sphere festering in its hand.

Roiling blue eyes glare down at him, and Benny can't help but liken it to a human teenager. "Why'd you help?" the kid demands, voice raspy with disuse. Benny wonders at that, since there are two of them.

Telepathic? Empaths? Sometimes words just aren't needed between so closely bonded monsters, but it's just not clicking right and nothing fits. At least... not yet.

"You looked like you could'a used a hand."

His answer seems to throw the monster off, who narrows its eyes down at Benny. The vampire doesn't know how long they sit there, but before long the orb dies down and disappears, wisps of green fading into the air. The kid slowly gets off his chest, and moves a few feet away as Benny sits up, rubbing at his chest.

"Thanks."

Benny gives the kid a crooked grin as he gets to his feet. "No problem, kid," he says, eyes darting toward the green goo and missing the flicker of amusement," sorry 'bout your friend though."

He doesn't receive a response.

Brushing at his clothes, Benny spies his blade a bit away and glances at the kid, thing, whatever. He seems docile enough now, when there's nothing to get into a tussle over. With no outward distaste toward him retrieving his weapon, he slinks slowly over to it and plucks it from the ground. He moves back toward the kid after he picks up the blade, hefting it onto his shoulder.

They stare each other down for a moment, but then Benny grins crookedly and holds his hand out.

"Name's Benny, and I think me and you should stick together out here, whaddya think?"

The kid seems to blink at him, and then his hand, and for a moment Benny wonders when exactly the kid landed in Purgatory if he's hesitant about a handshake.

He tenses slightly when an ice cold hand slips into his.

"Danny."


	4. Chapter 4

you are a glitch in the system.


	5. Chapter 5

meep

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><p>.<p>

His blade slips from his fingers, flying some feet away, and Dean hits the ground with a grunt. Heart pounding, the weight on his back shifts, and ragged nails trace the side of his neck up to the back of his ear. A shudder works its way over his body, and he waits to die. Again. _Fuck._

There's a deep inhale.

"You're... human," murmurs a voice, strung with wonder, and then the weight is gone.

Dean scrambles up, breath harsh, and whirls around.

It's gone.

He fetches his weapon, glancing around the tree infested area one more time. "Fucking weird," he whispers, and leaves.

_You're human._


	6. but who am i

Thanks for all the reviews guys uwu

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><p><em>.<em>

Sometimes, they just sit, perch in one spot. Still as statues, eyes cloudy and far away. Benny doesn't go far on those days, skulks around the general area, waits it out.

And, it does end. Something like life comes back to them, they inhale, and sometimes disappear. Other times, they look to him, and Benny freezes. Their eyes search him, as if he's unfamiliar, recognition slow to take hold.

"Benny," says Green Eyes, bland and flat. Danny bobs his head slightly, fingers curling tight around his small knife.

The vampire traces the unblemished skin from the curve of his left ear to the base of his neck, phantom pain prickling along the skin, and grins crookedly.

"That's me," he agrees.

_01100010 01110101 01110100 00100000 01110111 01101000 01101111 00100000 01100001 01101101 00100000 0110100__1_


	7. rEBOOT aLL sYSTEMS

_01110010 01100101 01100010 01101111 01101111 01110100 00100000 01100001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01110011 01111001 01110011 01110100 01100101 01101101 01110011_


	8. Chapter 8

Thanks for all the reviews guys uwu

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><p><em>.<em>

_The monster's twin reforms in a flash of green, and Benny nearly brains himself on the rock he's resting against when he jerks in surprise._

_That's... That's new. Or. Maybe old. Very old. He's just as dirty and tattered as Benny remembers, matted hair and torn clothes. Benny flexes his hold on his weapon as bright green eyes dart in his direction, shoulders tense. What are they? _

_A snarl blooms on the twin's thin, dirt streaked face, and Benny bites back a hiss. Danny merely sidles closer, and there's a pause as he moves between them, blocking each other from view. Something is communicated between a brief touch of hands, maybe whispered words, or thoughts, and when Danny moves to the side, the other monster is no longer paying attention to Benny. Eyes solely on Danny as he moves back toward his spot on a tree's exposed roots._

_And, so he is ignored._


	9. Chapter 9

Wah you guys are all awesome ;w;

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><p><em>.<em>

The attack is sudden, and unprovoked.

They roll in a short grapple of ragged nails before Green Eyes pins Benny to the ground, a heavy weight on his ribs and chest, hands curling around his throat. He bares his teeth down at the vampire, and Benny doesn't fight him, pushes down his mounting panic, and lays still, tense.

"There is a way out of here," he hisses after a moment, eyes wide and pupils near pinpricks. "A human... A human soul wanders this dark garden, and he can _leave_."

Wha—

"You can leave, _you can leave,_" Green Eyes growls, something desperate in his raspy, stilted voice, fingers digging into Benny's neck. "Not me, never _me. _But,_ you, _you can **_leave_**."

A wet, meaty scent, like raw flesh and earth, warm blood, wafts between them. Green Eyes snarls, and with one more hard _squeeze _to Benny's neck, he disappears.

The vampire sits up with a gasp, teeth prickling in his mouth, and a hand flies to his abused throat. Tiny crescents cover the back of his neck, marring the skin, and sticky smears of blood coat the tips of his fingers when he drags them away.

_You can leave._


	10. Chapter 10

thanks for the reviews guys ;w;

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><p><em>.<em>

"What? No thanks for saving your hide?"

The human stands tense in the corner of Benny's eyes. He's dirty, run ragged from the continuous hunt, and his hand curls oh so tightly around the blade in his hand.

"Sure," he starts, gesturing the weapon," I won't shove this up your ass."

_Classy, _Benny thinks, curtailing a smirk.


	11. Chapter 11

_whomp_

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><p>.<p>

_"Stop."_

_Benny startles awake, jerking upright. His fingers are quick to find his blade, having slipped from them sometime in the night, and he swings his head around._

_"Shut up," whispers—"shut up, shut up,_ _**stop**."_

_The words are in a tandem, two voices, pained._

_"He's not listening, stop, stop, he is not—**shut up**, stop."_

_"Danny," he calls into the dark. "... Green Eyes?"_

_Everything falls still. Silent. Heavy, thick and oppressive._

_Benny sucks in a breath._

_"... shut up," croaks—miserable, choked._

_Pray, I to the angel _"every night."


	12. this number is out of service

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	13. Chapter 13

_you find... something._

_it is a gross mess of energy and emotion. Withering mass barely contained, riddled with errors and tangled strings from the crown of its earthly head to the tips of its crooked toes. but._

_there. hidden between the here and elsewhere, a blade gleams. a beacon behind a division, held taut by one pulsing cord of dripping white._

_share a glance, curl your fingers, countdown:_

**_3, 2—_**


	14. Chapter 14

**_—1_**

_The blazing green slips scantily by Castiel's side, the smell of burnt fabric filling his nose as he grabs the monster's arm and spins on his heel. Swings the creature round, sends it skimming across the river's surface before it collapses into a wave of water and under._

_It resurfaces, water cascading down its snarl bent face, and hair bleeding a grey-brown._

_Castiel backpedals, draws his hand back, and—and he falters, whirls around._

_Another inspects his blade, tilts it in the gray light, slivers of blue behind strands of inky black trace the thin engravings of the hilt._

_It darts one dark look at him, flips the blade in its hand, and._

_jabs it forward with one jerky thrust._

_The gleaming metal catches on something, slides partially from view. The monster's eyes are wide, cut through with gleaming yellow and a lurid green. It whimpers, tugs weakly on the hilt, and pulls the blade free with a wet slurp. Leaves behind a hole in the air between them._

_There's a beat, complete silence, and everything sucks in, then—then blows back, fades to an encompassing white with a thunderous roar._

_Castiel blinks awake on the other side of the river, sprawling along the bank, soaking wet. He sits up with a twist to his face, pain a thick layer over his body, and sees the damage wrought._

_Trees lean precariously against each other, roots exposed. The surrounding area is drenched with water, the ground beneath him mud. A new shallow pool adorns the opposite side, the river inches lower._

_He spies his sword embedded in a downed tree. It's a stiff shuffle over to it, and he frowns at the blood and green smears along the hilt, darts his eyes back around._

_Worrisome, he thinks, and pulls the blade out of the bark._


	15. fATAL eXCEPTION eRROR

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	16. Chapter 16

"—shit!"

It collapses in a heap in the middle of the path, appearing between one moment and the next in front of Dean. He's backpedaling when Benny spins around, weapon raised, and falters.

Dean swears again when it flails an arm, digs its sparking fingers into the trodden dirt with a bark of pain. The skin is blistered, a flaming red, and it trembles on the ground, the blackened form of a hand clutched to its almost bare chest.

"Danny?" the vampire says, and falls to his knees, dropping his blade to the side. His hands hover over the creature, fingers twitching, unsure. "Green Eyes?"

Its eyes dart open, black hair strewn across its face. One blue, one green. They snap shut with a twist of its face, a low groan rumbling in its thin chest.

_What the hell, _Dean thinks.


	17. sySTEm pARtitioN unRESPonSIve

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	18. reWOUND

01110011 01011001 01010011 01110100 01100101 01101101 00100000 01101101 01101111 01101110 01001001 01110100 01101111 01110010 00100000 01100100 01100101 01110010 01000101 01011010 01111010 01100101 01100100..._

01110010 01000101 01100011 01101111 01001101 01010000 01001100 01101100 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01100111 01010010 01100001 01101101..._

01001001 01101101 01110000 01001111 01010010 01110100 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01000010 01000001 01000011 01101011 01110101 01110000..._


	19. Chapter 19

Benny snaps awake at a yell.

He's up and on his feet in moments, teeth sharp in his mouth and his blade tight in hand. The lighting is poor, the moon hidden by a thin, rare cloud, and the vampire makes it halfway toward the struggling mass on the other side of the small clearing before he stops.

"Danny!"

Bright blue snaps to Benny, aglow in the darkness. Dean stills under him, face contorted grotesquely in the stark shadows and at the strain of the hands wrapped around his throat.

Phantom pain itches at the skin of his own neck, but Benny waits, lets his arm fall back to his side. _It's okay, he'll remember any moment now, _Benny thinks, _Dean'll be ok_—

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><p>Something goes <em>wrong<em>.

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><p>It's one moment, Danny seems almost quizzical, iridescent eyes searching, and—and then he jerks back as if hit, snarl marring his face from one blink to the next. His eyes cut briefly to a lurid green before all but leeching <em>entirely<em> blue, and Benny knows he isn't fast enough to close the distance.

He's rearing one arm back, and something dazzling grows around the hand, sparkles under the growing moonlight.

Danny swings down.


	20. Chapter 20

Dean blinks numbly at the trembling blue fist, a blur before his eyes. A breath away from his head.

Blood, cold and green, drips onto his face, and coats the shining blade protruding from the inner of its shoulder.

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><p><em>Cas, <em>he thinks, the prayer fleeting and filled with pain as black spots encroach on his vision.

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><p>"S-Shut up," the monster wobbles, and the hand digging ragged nails into Dean's neck flares with heat for one <em>horrible second<em>—

—but then the creature is gone, shoved away with a shriek, and suddenly Cas is _there_. Face set grimly and thrown hauntingly in the strong moonlight before he's moving away, out of Dean's sight.

Everything hurts, ribs and up, but Dean pushes through the pounding of his head and his heart, the muddling of his thoughts, and struggles to roll over after one long moment. He takes a ragged breath and pushes up, hands spreading and bracing against the dirt, and.

Pain cuts across one palm, and Dean hisses and jerks the hand away, nearly falling flat onto his stomach. In the gloom, the blood is a dark stain across his skin, the cut a clean slice bisecting the life lines. His eyes can barely make out the form of the small blade, but the metal catches a spark of moonlight and shines cherry red.

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><p>"Ow," he says, and the world runs white.<p> 


	21. Chapter 21

_Between one moment and the next, heart racing, Benny's moving_—_not close enough, not going to make it, too far, too **far**_—_and then stopping. There's no warning, no nothing, just a flash of moonlight, and a blade slides through flesh and muscle._

_Everything slows to a slow heartbeat, overtaken by the loud pulse of his blood in his ears, and then._

_"**S-Shut up.**"_

_It's sudden and jarring, and then a dark shape is hurtling toward him. Benny's blade flies from his hand, and he scrambles for the monster's flailing arms as they go down in a twisting frenzy._

_"Danny_—_" he snaps as he flips them, wrangles the kid's arms behind his back and pins him to the ground,"_—_calm down!"_

_He's met with snarls and croaking barks of frustration, flickers of blue around the edges. Green blood gushes from the hole in his shoulder with each struggle and wrench of muscles, and it runs down the arch of Danny's straining back and over Benny's hands._

_Dammit__,__ Benny thinks, his hands tingling, burning._

_"Let go of it," says a voice, and Benny jerks his head up._

_It's the angel._

_"Why?" he growls, teeth prickling in his mouth. His fingers are numb, the faint smell of burnt flesh whispering around his nose, and._

_There's a pause, stony silence. Benny snarls._

_Lets go._

_Danny freezes, lays where Benny leaves him. The vampire scrambles back, gives the monster space, and waits, dragging his green and smoking hands down the sides of his jacket. It's slow going, moments before Danny's arms fall from his back, before there's a soft hiss. He turns his head, and peeks at them over his uninjured shoulder, eyes blown wide._

_Benny steps forward with a start."Green Eyes_—_"_

_Everything shifts off-center, and **b-r-e-a-k-s**._

He ends up on his hands and knees, stomach tied into knots, and bile itching at the back of his throat, but Green Eyes is still there. Struggling against a tree, hoisting himself up, and the angel is collapsed on the ground, dazed and stunned.

His blade lays in front of them, flung from his hand. Benny stares at it, at the green blood along the entire length, and reaches for it. He collapses with a grunt, fingers crawling over the cold hilt of the sword, and pulling it closer, but.

suddenly, another hand slides over his, chipped and ruined nails digging into skin, and bearing down on him.

Benny looks up, and bright blue irises are staring down at him, a dull brownish green dripping onto the ground

"D-Danny," he croaks, mouth dry.

The monster's eyes narrow, lip curling and baring teeth, but confusion marres the hostility, flickering briefly across his face, and.

It's not enough. Benny hisses when the nails dig deeper, the bones creaking in his wrist, and releases his hold on the blade. Danny snatches it up with a growl, skipping a few steps away from him. The wound in his shoulder bleeds sluggishly as he wrenches it with a snarl, working it as he inspects the weapon.

Benny breathes, and struggles up, teeth needle sharp in his mouth.

"Danny," he tries again, this time on his feet, unsteady, and black spots threaten the edges of his vision.

The blade is backwards in his hand, and there's a hungry, desperate fire in his eyes. Benny sees that now. Has seen it before. The hairs on the back of Benny's neck stand on end, and Danny brings his arm up.

He starts forward, once more, once more, he can get through to him."Don't—" he starts, yells, unsure why, but knowing _this can't end well_.

The blade is stabbed down, catching on _something_, slipping out of view. The air is split in two as Danny cuts down and _down_.

What Benny sees of him is bisected by a jagged line of gold, creeping fingers of light leaking from the edges, dying mere centimeters out, and Danny's dropping the knife as soon as it's as long as he is tall. His arms fly forward, and Benny sees him sink his fingers into the pulsing wound, grip the edges, and _pull_**.**

Everything shrinks to pinprick, and at his next step, Benny collapses.


	22. Chapter 22

you're almost there.

so close. so close, you can almost taste it.

home. you're going home.


	23. Chapter 23

_r3windiNG...__


	24. Chapter 24

_Something slides flat under your palm with a click,_

_the hairs on the back of your neck standing on end, and_

_everything flashes green with_

_p..a..i..n.._


	25. Chapter 25

_it's not fair. none of it is..._

_y0ur fingers brush the edge of the rip between._

_they sp1it, almost 1ike after images. they're thr0ugh, and they press against._

_a whimper chokes itse1f in your thr0at._

_y0u just want to g0 home...__

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><p><em>wh01e.<em>


	26. 1abe1: 0r1g1n st0ry REWIND PLEASE

Don't forget to review, please! I live for slightly tangible love! :3c

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><p>There's screaming, loud and high, shrill and terrified. You can't see for the veridian, for the doubling of your vision, everything shrinks to pinprick. A howl fills your ears, and it rings empty, noise for the sake of noise.<p>

You land hard on your back, breath escaping with a cry of pain. Everything hurts, tingles, and spasms. Gasp, pitiful and weak. It's pins and needles, your limbs struggling to work.

It's numbness, a slow restart, confusion.

Your eyes open, and a grey sky greets them. Something gathers at the edges, blurs, and falls. Trembling fingers rub it away, and it's then you notice the whimpering. You look, eyes sliding to the corners, and see.

**yourself.**

Your heart skips a beat, and the thrum a steady crescendo the more you stare. Time slows, and you can't move, frozen as the beat in your chest burns cold with fear.

You're two sides of one coin. Tethered and chained in all the wrong ways.

White falls over green.

Black over blue.

Who, exactly, _are_ you?


End file.
